April 4,1968 was Thursday

and the day Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on the balcony of this Memphis motel. I will be honest, I was more upset my favorite cartoon Huckleberry Hound was interrupted by the news. My parents, on the other hand were upset and devastated. I did not really 'get' it.

Sure, I had seen Dr. King on TV talking and walking alot. I saw people, the same color as me, get attacked by police. My parents would be glued to the set. The action on the TV was so far away from my own childhood existence. I never saw as many black people as I did during those times. I am sure my parents tried to explain to me what was happening, yet I just did not 'get' it. I was not even sure or how to be proud of my race. I never had to worry about 'coloreds only' signs.

I grew up in a predominately white Iowa town. In school, all we were taught about Blacks in America was slavery and George Washington Carver's work with peanuts. To be honest, not until I got out in the world and made a conscious effort to learn of my race did I start to 'get it'.

I have so far learned that not every Black person's ancestry in America was a slave. My dad's side were not slaves at all. They were few of the freedmen in Virginia, in the late 1700's on. Simply unheard off.

Forty-four years ago Dr. Martin Luther King died. He was not even forty years old.

I know I 'get it' now and wonder: what if...

Remember Martin Luther King Jr

When I was a kid, I had no clue who Martin Luther King Jr really was. Yea, OK, I saw him alot on the news broadcasts talking about 'colored people'--but I didn't get it. I rarely saw black folks on TV. In fact, I want to say Bill Cosby could have been about it on "I Spy." I grew up in a pre-dominantly white community, yet I never experienced 'colored only' water fountains or bathrooms. So on TV, to see people the same color as me, walking with signs, or being chased by dogs, sprayed with water and police beating them--I didn't 'get' it. I'm sure I asked my parents why those things were happening.

Since I can't remember their answer, it must have something to sooth my grade school mentality. My priorities then were the reruns of Leave it to Beaver and the carton Huckleberry Hound. In fact, Huck and his friends were on my TV, the day the news broke in and said Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated.

I do remember that. I yelled out to my parents who sat in the kitchen. They soon stood at my door to watch the news. My dad said "I'll be damned." Their faces dropped and clouded.

I admit I didn't really embrace my culture or my heritage until I much older. Don't get me wrong, my pre-dominantly white Iowa hometown will always be my home. It wasn't until I left did I realize how much I missed out growing up. I faced alot of inner-race racism because folks, black folks told me I didn't sound or act black enough. Then it began when a white person would meet me and tell me I didn't sound black on the phone. My question to both eventually became, "What does black sound like?"

Now as an adult, I do 'get' this. I can listen to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I hear his determination, strength and courage. I look at the young folks of today who have more things Dr. King could ever dream of.

And I wonder if they 'get' it and/or even hear a whisper?

MLK: History

Martin Luther King Jr

Thank you for The Dream

January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968

January 15, 1929 was a Tuesday

When a baby boy was born in Atlanta, Ga.
He grew up to engage the fight for respect and civil rights of others.
On an August 1963 day, he spoke to millions about a Dream.
In 2008, Martin Luther King's Dream began to be reality.
The vote for President of these United States proved it.
History.

Martin Luther King Jr was silenced 40 years ago today. I remember being a fourth grader, invovled with my daily after school TV dose of Huckleberry Hound, when ABC broke into regular programming. My mom said, "Oh Lord." My dad said, "I'll be damned."

Didn't all the way get it. I just know Huckleberry Hound wasn't on. I didn't get what this man tried to do for 'colored folks' like me. I lived in Iowa. I drank from the same fountain and there weren't any buses to ride in my hometown of 6000. I know some kids called me 'nigger'. Yet, it was never bad enough to be scared to go to school.

I felt sorry for Martin Luther King Jr's kids, because they wouldn't have a daddy anymore. Just the same way I felt when JFK was silenced and saw Caroline at his funeral. What would they do with out her daddy? Just the same way I felt when Robert Kennedy was silenced two months later.

I get it now. Martin Luther King Jr had a dream. Shivers still go up and down my spine when I hear now. Alot has changed in 40 years. Yet alot has stayed the same-Jena, Louisana, any one? I grew up watching our country's unrest on TV. It seemed so far away from my Iowa town. Today's kids just know what they learn in school. It's historical to them. Things aren't that way now, some may conclude-as they stick in their ear buds. .

In the 60's, I watched Martin Luther King Jr on TV walk through a crowd talking if he were president. I thought how strange it would be to have a colored man as president. For some reason, as a kid, I was scared of that thought. Could a colored man do as well?

It's 2008. I'm not so scared anymore. Honestly Black may be color of the next president.

I get that. .